The role of perioperative medical therapy

The commonly adopted approaches to endometriosis have been either medical therapy or surgery, which is usually laparoscopic. Medical therapy induces atrophy within the hormonally dependent ectopic endometrium. Surgery usually involves either destroying the endometriotic implant by ablation or excising the lesion. Surgery is also used to alleviate symptoms by dividing adhesions and interrupting neural pathways. Unfortunately, neither management approaches are a guarantee against recurrence of endometriosis and the condition is rarely considered cured.